I use to post occasionally on the old site also but sort of drifted away because I was fishing larger waters and joined a fly club ln Seattle that drew me away. I retired from the Seattle Fire Department in June after a little more than 29 years. My wife and I moved across country to Warm Springs, VA. We wanted to be near our aging parents. Liz's mother and stepfather live in Frederick, MD and mine live in Virginia Beach, VA. Her birth father lives outside of Orlando. We both have siblings in nearby states now so we have been traveling often. We have put 30,000 miles on our Toyota Highlander since moving in July. We have a log cabin on a couple of acres within 10 minutes of the Hidden Valley special reg waters of the Jackson River and there are many, many small streams nearby. Some of them are cool enough for trout year around and others also have sunfish and smallmouth bass. I will always get an annual Maryland and Virginia license for both fresh and saltwater. I have bought and fished and sold many kinds of fishing tackle. I have a few glass and graphite rods left along with some old Pflueger Medalist reels but have sold all my expensive stuff including my custom and name brand bamboo rods. I am turning 64 in March and just applied for early social security. I've done and seen a lot and now just want to keep things simple. I guess that's why I have been so readily drawn to Tenkara fishing and its cousin, pole fishing. I use to fish a cane pole in North Carolina and Virginia and Texas as a kid and I'm drawn back to the simplicity 'though Tenkara is much more than just a cane pole, bobber, and worm. I will still fish for anything anywhere and I'm not any kind of purist. I mostly tie my own flies but I usually end up buying a few here and there when I wander into a fly shop or see something really inexpensive but practical on eBay. I think I'm going to enjoy sharing back and forth on this site. Hopefully I'll meet and fish with some of you in my retirement travels.

Randy